Pok Pok Phat Thai Turns Off the Lights in Chinatown This Sunday

It seems that Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok Phat Thai is going on indefinite hiatus as of this coming Sunday. The Far East Plaza stalwart has been open for 18 months.

It’s a surprise loss for the plaza, which has been nearly full-steam ahead in recent years, as Chego begat a number of other following concepts, including Alvin Cailan’s Unit 120 and the now massively popular Howlin’ Rays, which sits right next door to Pok Pok Phat Thai (with a line that occasionally obscures the other restaurant altogether).

Reached for comment, Andy Ricker confirmed the news of the impending slowdown, though he was quick to note that the space — and the pad Thai concept overall — may not ultimately go anywhere. They’ll likely still be on site during larger events like Chinatown Summer Nights and hosting one-off pop-ups now and then, with Ricker and his team possibly even flipping the existing space into something that could better serve Chinatown’s customer base.

Otherwise it’s full steam ahead for Ricker’s larger full Pok Pok up the street, which has really come into its own lately. The always thoughtful Ricker hopes to focus up on that location more now that Phat Thai will be going down for a while, using the extra time and manpower to continue to push in making Pok Pok a true Chinatown destination for just about everyone.